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Visible light exposure reduces the drip loss of fresh-cut watermelon

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Abstract

Drip loss of fresh-cut watermelon has become a concern for both producers and consumers. The effect of visible light exposure on the drip loss of fresh-cut watermelon was evaluated. Visible light treatments of 3000 and 10 Lux were applied to fresh-cut watermelon at 4 °C during the shelf life for 5 days, with light exposure of 150 Lux as the control. The drip loss of the fresh-cut watermelon at 3000 Lux was 74.8% of that at 150 Lux on the fifth day, and the moisture evaporation at 3000 Lux was 1.89 times that at 150 Lux. Moreover, the light exposure of 3000 Lux reduced the activity of polygalacturonase, which is a key hydrolase related to cell wall degradation. The cell wall degradation ratio of the fresh-cut watermelon at 3000 Lux was 81.7% of that at 150 Lux on the fifth day. Overall, light exposure of 3000 Lux reduced drip loss by accelerating moisture evaporation in fresh-cut watermelon, as well as by reducing the activity of polygalacturonase and the ratio of cell wall degradation. Hence, exposing the fresh-cut watermelon to visible light of 3000 Lux during the shelf life was a feasible way of reducing drip loss.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to financial support of the earmarked fund for China Agricultural Research System (CARS-25), Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality (6172013), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0400302-5), and Beijing Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetable Storage and Processing (Z141105004414037).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Vegetable Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences; Beijing Key Laboratory of Fruits and Vegetable Storage and Processing; Key Laboratory of Vegetable Postharvest Processing, Ministry of Agriculture; Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (North China), Ministry of Agriculture; Key Laboratory of Urban Agriculture (North), Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, 50 Zhanghua Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China

    Yubin Wang, Wu Li, Wenqian Cai, Yue Ma, Yong Xu, Xiaoyan Zhao & Chao Zhang

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  1. Yubin Wang
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  2. Wu Li
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  3. Wenqian Cai
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  4. Yue Ma
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  5. Yong Xu
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  6. Xiaoyan Zhao
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  7. Chao Zhang
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Correspondence to Chao Zhang.

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Wang, Y., Li, W., Cai, W. et al. Visible light exposure reduces the drip loss of fresh-cut watermelon. J Food Sci Technol 55, 1816–1822 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-018-3096-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-018-3096-z

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